Proposition 30, more significant than the youth vote was the impact of minority voters

"I think the 2012 election in California may prove to be a turning point in California politics," DiCamillo said of the significance of Latino, Asian American, African American and other minority voters, who cast about four of every 10 ballots statewide.

Jim Sanders, Sac Bee, Nov. 16, 2012

Younger voters turned out in surprisingly high numbers on Nov. 6, but they didn't spell victory or defeat for Proposition 30 or other key ballot issues, according to the director of the Field Poll.

"It helped the margin of victory, but it didn't change the outcome," Mark DiCamillo said Thursday of a surge in balloting by voters ages 18 to 29 that bolstered support for the Proposition 30 tax measure.

DiCamillo estimated that the unexpectedly large youth vote raised the Proposition 30 tally by about four percentage points, but the measure won by nearly nine percentage points.

DiCamillo and Mark Baldassare, head of the Public Policy Institute of California, dissected election results Thursday at a session of the Sacramento Press Club.

Even more significant than the youth vote was the impact of minority voters. They turned out in record numbers and tended to oppose Republican positions, the duo said.

"I think the 2012 election in California may prove to be a turning point in California politics," DiCamillo said of the significance of Latino, Asian American, African American and other minority voters, who cast about four of every 10 ballots statewide.